USPS Service Performance Holds Steady Across All Mail Categories

Grainger reported results for the third quarter 2020 with sales of $3.0 billion, up 2.4% and up 4.6% on an organic daily basis compared to the third quarter 2019 driven by significant share gains in the U.S. segment and strong growth in the endless assortment businesses. Daily sales for the quarter increased 2.4% as compared to the 2019 third quarter. Organic daily sales, which exclude revenues from the divested Fabory and China businesses from the prior year results, increased 4.6% as compared to the 2019 third quarter. These sales increases were fueled by share gains in the U.S. segment and significant growth in the endless assortment businesses which more than offset declines in the Canada segment. Reported and adjusted gross profit margin for the third quarter of 2020 was 35.6%. This compares to reported and adjusted gross profit margin in the third quarter of 2019 of 37.3%. The unfavorable variance was driven by pandemic-related mix headwinds, particularly noticeable in our U.S. segment, and the continued business unit mix impact from the faster growth in our lower-margin endless assortment businesses.

The Association of American Publishers released its StatShot report for October 2020 reflecting reported revenue for all tracked categories, including Trade (Consumer Books), K-12 Instructional Materials, Higher Education Course Materials, Professional Publishing, and University Presses. Total revenues across all categories for October 2020 were up 7.3% as compared to October 2019, coming in at $1.2 billion. Year-to-date sales were down 1.0% as compared to the first ten months of 2019, with a total of $12.4 billion. Trade (Consumer Books) sales were up 2.4% year-over-year, coming in at $960.6 million. Year-to-date (January-October 2020) Trade sales were up 6.9% as compared to the same period last year, coming in at $6.9 billion. In terms of physical paper format revenues during the month of October, in the Trade (Consumer Books) category, Hardback revenues were down 1.8%, coming in at $456.8 million; Paperbacks were down 0.7%, with $246.3 million in revenue; Mass Market was down 2.7% to $19.8 million; and Board Books were up 19.7%, with $27.0 million in revenue.

The Commission’s in-depth analysis reviewed the Postal Service’s four performance goals: 1) High-Quality Service, 2) Excellent Customer Experience, 3) Safe Workplace and Engaged Workforce, and 4) Financial Health. Overall, in FY 2023, the Postal Service did not meet any of its performance goals. Specifically, *The Postal Service did not meet six of eight public performance indicators for the High-Quality Service performance goal, which measures on-time delivery of mail and packages. *The Postal Service did not meet three of the eight performance indicators for the Excellent Customer Experience performance goal, which measures customer satisfaction. *The Postal Service did not meet any of the performance indicators for the Safe Workplace and Engaged Workforce and Financial Health performance goals.